Reflection: Weeks 5 & 6

Week 5

This week in class we were assigned to read chapter 15, an article entitled, "Feeding the World".  This article was about Society’s Four Transitional Stages, Evidence for Negative Population Growth, Future Food/Supply Demand Balance, Protecting the Environment, and The Challenges Ahead in regards to food supply and the earth's population.  This article helped me to see exactly why lack of food is becoming such a problem, and how we as the human race can't just sit by and watch it get any worse. 

We also watched the documentary "Diet For a New America".  Although this movie was dated, it was done by John Robbins, a very effective speaker on the food we consume and the effects it has on the environment.  Surprisingly, I learned a lot from this film.  It was really hard for me to look past how dated it was, and at first I was pretty narrow minded to the entire film.  However, by the end of  the film, and after reading the reviews done by some of my classmates I realized that I indeed took a lot of information from the documentary.  Basically the film discussed how the food we eat as Americans (primarily meat and dairy) affects us negatively, the environment negatively, and animals negatively. 

Week 6

We spent this week in class watching the movie, "The Future of Food".  I hated that I learned so much from this film.  Honestly, I like to take comfort knowing that I don't know what's going on. Does that make sense?? It does to me....

Anyways, this movie opened my eyes to so much.  First of all, genetically modified foods aren't just few and far between, they are a dime a dozen!!  How scary.  I loved in the class discussion that we had following the movie, that someone brought up the point, "so with genetically altered seeds being thrown into the mix all over farms across America, how much of our "organic" or "all natural" foods, are actually what they say they are?" 

I was disgusted to learn that LIFE CAN BE PATENTED!? What a joke!? Honestly, how do we go about changing that, because I would be an advocate....

It was sad to hear all of the stories about the little farmers that basically got screwed over by HUGE, money-hungry companies(*cough* Monsanto *cough*)....it made me sad and selfishly, very very thankful that I am not a farmer. 

This week I also learned a lot from my peers by reading their individual posts on the eye opener reading assignments. I enjoyed how the readings were individually assigned.  Honestly I was intrigued enough by some of the reviews that my web group wrote, that I went to my book and read those articles right away! I also liked how we were asked to link to websites that had opposing views on the issue at hand.  Some of those websites were really educational to poke around at. GREAT JOB WEB-GROUPERS!

What I Have Learned

What have I learned these last couple of weeks? Well, a few things:

1. I have a confirmed allergy to shrimp
2. Based on this class, I am SO MUCH MORE environmentally aware of what is going on in this world.  Here is the cliff hanger: on my trip to CO last weekend, I was very receptive to environmentally friendly projects.  I found one project that I will be posting a Share & Voice about. Stay tuned....
3. Monsanto is a disgusting company and I dislike the way they ruin little innocent farmers that just want to make a living off of their family history of seeds. It is sick. I also wish there were a way for me to NOT support any Monsanto products, or to by any of their genetically altered foods.  Sadly, there is no way for me to know.
4. Genetically altered foods don't have to be labeled.  They should be. Looks like I should bust out my pen to sign some petitions...
5. I check my blogger account everyday, similar to my patterns of checking my facebook.  I feel as though this may be a problem, because I tend to waste large amounts of my life on facebook.  What happens if I start using blogger for personal use...eeeek. 
6. The food we eat, the food we grow the food we waste doesn't end where we think it does.  HUGE impacts are made on everyone else in the world, the environment, the animals, the earth itself...I have learned so much about what I should be eating and what I shouldn't.  What I should cut back on, and what I should eat more of. It was a very educational couple of weeks for me.  In fact, I just said The Hail Mary praying that Mrs. Harkins doesn't read my blog (*forgive me if you do*): I think I have learned more about food, consumption, the interaction of humans and food etc. in the past two weeks, than I did in the entire semester I had of Human Nutrition. Wow....typing that was a risk.

Share and Voice 5: Allergic reaction round 2??

For all of my friends that are in Methods with me, you probably remember the first day of class, and hearing my story about Adrian saving my life at the Grand Canyon. For those of you who aren't in Methods, here is a quick story:

This summer I went to the Grand Canyon with my man, Adrian.  He happens to be an expired EMT, which is a little fun fact about him.  However, his knowledge came in handy when I got stung by a bee and had an allergic reaction.  I was unconscious almost immediately, and he carried me in 110 degree weather to the nearest travel center to get me help.  Basically, an ambulance was called, people were crowing around me, and an entire entrance into part of the canyon was shut down.  It was EXTREMELY embarrassing, but I am forever thankful for Adrian's quick response and ability to remain calm.

Well, here I am in Colorado and Adrian saves my life YET AGAIN.  

On Friday night, Adrian and all of his friends threw me a welcome home party.  We were all playing RockBand, Dancing around...chit-chatting, the usual....

Well, this one guy makes a plate of breaded popcorn shrimp.  I looked at it and said, "is that chicken!?", his sarcastic response was "yeah, it's chicken".  So, I popped one into my mouth and almost IMMEDIATELY my tongue swelled, I looked to my right at my friend Drew and I said "WHAT ANIMAL IS THIS!", he replies, "it's shrimp"...

and just like in the pool when you spit water at your friends, the shrimp was expelled from my mouth.  I ran to the sink yelling, "WHO HAS BENEDRYL IM ALLERGIC TO SHRIMP!!!"

Adrian hears this and runs up the stairs, where I am standing at the sink flushing my mouth out.  I didn't have shoes on so he picks  me up and runs me out to the truck and off we went. 

Moral of the story: Adrian saved my life a second time, my tongue is back to normal size, and my welcome home party was a very memorable experience! 

There it is folks, a very detailed entry into the life of Sara J.  Don't you just love the Share & Voice posts?!

Eye Opener 3: Summary of Reading 5: The Most Important Fish in the Sea

Summary of the Article 

Menhaden are a small, herring-like fish found on the Atlantic coast (McKinney 19).  They are not fished to be eaten by humans, but are dried, and ground up into a high protein feed for chicken, pigs, and cattle.  Selling for 10 cents/pound at the dock, menhaden are a cheap component in industrial poultry, swine, and livestock feed (McKinney 19).  However, they are one of the most important links in the Atlantic aquatic life food chain.  Many fish humans consume including bass, mackerel, cod, bonito, swordfish, bluefish, and tuna use menhaden as a key dietary component (McKinney 20).  According to industry statistics, the menhaden population has been declining since 1946.  This article discussed the effects of dramatic population decrease in menhaden:  

• Menhaden feed off of phytoplankton, thus controlling the growth of algae in costal waters (McKinney 20). Now, devastating algal blooms are increasing along the Atlantic coast due to the menhaden's filter feeding limitations (McKinney 21).
• Bass feed on menhaden, and after the dramatic decrease of them, bass are forced to feed off of fish with much lower nutritional values.  Therefore, bass are skinnier than ever and are experiencing a loss of muscle as an entire population (McKinney 20). 
• The bass are also experiencing diseases related to bacterial infections caused by Pfiesteria, a toxic form of phytoplankton that appropriate populations of menhaden can control (McKinney 20). 
• Ospreys on Gardiners Island, near the eastern tip of Long Island, New York are dwindling due to the lack of menhaden to feed off of in May, when menhaden schools would typically arrive just in time to feed the osprey nestlings (McKinney 21). 
• The loon count has dropped steadily in Chesapeake Bay from 1989 (McKinney 21). 

Although the problem seems to be out of control, there are a few measures that can be taken to one again increase the menhaden population.  First of all, menhaden spotter planes need to be taken away from the fleet of industrial fishing.  Since WWII, fishermen began using spotter planes and purse seines to find and fish the the menhaden (McKinney 20).  If a quota was put on the number of fish to attain, and fishing were not allowed after December 1st, the menhaden population would flourish.  The problem is that these days, Omega Protein Inc. enjoys a near monopoly fishing for menhaden (McKinney 22).  They currently use spotter planes to find the large schools of fish, where the pilots then radio the coordinates down to purse seines to cast nets and trap all of the fish.  Regulations regarding this type of fishing need to be implemented.  Barney White, the corporate vice president of Omega Protein Inc., denies that menhaden are being overfished, and that there is any type of ecological problem whatsoever caused by their decline (McKinney 22).  However, to what extend does Omega Protein Inc. need menhaden to sustain their sales? National Fisherman (the fishing industries journal) sates that, "where menhaden is processed into feed for poultry and pigs, the demand for fish is depressed by a surplus of soy, which serves the same purpose" (McKinney 22).  Therefore, all of the ground up menhaden could be easily replaced by ground up soybeans.  

This article presented a very strong argument:  regulations of menhaden fishing need to be put into effect immediately.  Overall, I found this article very easy to read, and it provided some great quotes from personnel within the industry.  

Terms To Know

Menhaden: An American marine fish of the Herring family (Brevoortia tyrannus), chiefly valuable for its oil and as a component of fertilizer.

Phytoplankton: Plankton consisting of free-floating algae, protists, and cyanobacteria. Phytoplankton form the beginning of the food chain for aquatic animals and fix large amounts of carbon, which would otherwise be released as carbon dioxide

Pfiesteria: a genus of dinoflagellates including one (Pfiesteriapiscicida) found in waters especially along the middle and southern Atlantic coast of the U.S. that produces a toxin which causes skin lesions in fish, that feeds upon the lesions sometimes causinglarge fish die-offs, and that may cause symptoms (as skin lesions and memory loss) in humans exposed to the toxin

Online Sources

1. Menhaden Matter is a collection of organizations that are concerned with the conservation of Menhaden and dedicated to protecting the ecological role of Menhaden in Chesapeake Bay.  The Menhaden Matter alliance is NOT looking to shut down the industrial menhaden industry, they are looking to instigate proactive management of the menhaden industry to improve the future health of the industry and of the Chesapeake Bay.  The alliance is advocating for sufficient conversation matters such as the adoption of proper menhaden harvesting techniques.  These conservation matters include enforcing a quota, and seasonal limitations for fishing.  
2. Friend of the Sea is a non-profit non- governative organization for the conservation of marine habitat by means of the certification and promotion of seafood and products from sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.  In the category of "Fish Meal", Friend of the Sea has deemed Omega Protein Inc. a certified friend of the sea.  According to Friend of the Sea, Omega Protein Inc. does not overexploit target stocks, their fishing methods do not impact the seabed, and they generate less than average (8%) of discards.  Omega Protein Inc. had to apply for this certification, and were granted the certification.  To view the full report on the certification of Omega Protein Inc.  click here. 

Question For Discussion

While I was reading this article, and doing supplemental research online, I found myself asking the same question over and over.  I would like to now pose the same question for you:

• Would it be possible to require animal feed corporations such as Omega Protien Inc. to use alternative sources of protein for their products? If so, what percentage of their product should be menhaden derived?

Eye Opener 2: CSPI--Score Your Diet

For the second eye opener, I chose to do the "Score Your Diet" activity.  I thought that this was a really great tool to use.  It was a pretty good calculator of your impact on your health, the environment, and animal welfare through your diet.  

I scored the highest on the following three categories:

• fruits (score: 44)
• vegetables (score: 44)
• grains (score: 17)

The reason why I scored so high on these is because I eat plenty of fruits, veggies and grains making it really beneficial to my health.  There is a relatively low impact on the environment from eating these three food products, especially if I am choosing to eat locally grown, or organic.   There was also no effect on animal welfare by eating high amounts of these three products. Therefore, my overall score was still very high.  

I scored the lowest on the following three categories:

• cheese (score: -55)
• Egg Yolks (score: -12)
• Candy, pastries, ice cream (score: -6)

These three products were low for various reasons.  Every diet analysis I do tells me to stop eating so much cheese. SERIOUSLY, I can't help it...it's just so good!!  I don't eat meat, and I don't drink milk, eat yogurt, or fish...I have to eat cheese.  At any rate, according to the website, it is a little bit bad for animal welfare, its worse for the environment, and it is the worst for my health.  Oops. I guess it is time to work on the cheese addiction.  The egg yolks was low because eggs are the only poultry I eat. I eat about 3 hard-boiled eggs each week and I always have an omelette or some scrambled eggs thrown in my diet.  This was the worst for animal welfare, not so much on the environment or my health.  I think that  I will continue to eat the same amount of eggs because let's be honest-- I need to get my protein somehow, and obviously I don't eat meat, or enough beans to do so.  The candy, pastries and ice cream category is only a problem with the third clause: ICE CREAM!  Literally, if a man buys me ice cream he has my heart.  I don't need diamonds or flowers...just a big ol' bucket of bunny tracks and I am totally satisfied!!

What will I change?

After all things are taken into consideration, I have decided to change three things.  

• Of all the vegetables, fruits, and grains I eat, I will make an effort to buy more locally grown and organic.  This will be less detrimental to the environment.   I will also try to buy fresh, and not frozen as often, this will help enhance my health.
• I will TRY to eat less cheese, and even if i don't succeed at it, I will try to be more aware.  Maybe I could try and eat low-fat cheese to better my own health??
• I will work on not eating as much ice cream as I currently do.  It is important to both my health, the environment, and animal welfare.  I would say that this will be the hardest change to make.  Although I won't remove it from my diet completely, I need to start caring more about the environment while eating it, and less about my emotional satisfaction!! =)

Summary

This tool was very useful, and it was a great starting point for analyzing the effects of your diet on yourself, the environment and on animals.  I have had the opportunity to learn how I am helping, and how I am hurting myself, the environment and animals through my eating habits.  I really enjoyed how everything was given an numeric value, and it was so simple to calculate.  Although there are much more sophisticated instruments that can be used, this tool was helpful, quick and enlightening. Here is a picture of my results:

Share and Voice 4: Spring Cleaning is JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

I babysit/house sit for a family that lives in Two Harbors.  Everytime I am out there and need to clean up dog poop/kid vomit/spilled juice,  I have to go to the cleaning cabinet and get the necessary supplies.  About 2 years ago, when I started babysitting, I noticed this little family only uses home made cleaning supplies!!  The mother said it was safer in the event her kids got into it, and it was better for the environment.  I thought it was pretty cool that they have been doing what they can to make a contribution. 

Being college students and all, I am assuming that we all have some spring cleaning coming up to either avoid a damage fee in our rental homes, or to move out of student housing.  Instead of spending a ton of money on cleaning supplies, raid your house/apartment for the 4 main ingredients, and then STOCK PILE them until spring.

It will save you money on the expensive toxic cleaning supplies, and help save the environment!!

Annie B. Bond posted a blog on How To Make a Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit.  Here is some of my favorite "recipes" from her blog!

SUPPLIES 
Baking soda
Washing soda
White distilled vinegar
A good liquid soap or detergent

CREAMY SOFT SCRUBBER

Simply pour about 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl, and add enough liquid detergent to make a texture like frosting. Scoop the mixture onto a sponge, and wash the surface. This is the perfect recipe for cleaning the bathtub because it rinses easily and doesn’t leave grit.

Note: Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable glycerin to the mixture and store in a sealed glass jar, to keep the product moist. Otherwise just make as much as you need at a time.

WINDOW CLEANER
1/4-1/2 teaspoon liquid detergent
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups water
Spray bottle

Put all the ingredients into a spray bottle, shake it up a bit, and use as you would a commercial brand. The soap in this recipe is important. It cuts the wax residue from the commercial brands you might have used in the past.

ALL-PURPOSE SPRAY CLEANER
1/2 teaspoon washing soda
A dab of liquid soap
2 cups hot tap water

Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake until the washing soda has dissolved. Apply and wipe off with a sponge or rag.

Straight vinegar reportedly kills 82 percent of mold. Pour some white distilled vinegar straight into a spray bottle, spray on the moldy area, and let set without rinsing if you can put up with the smell. It will dissipate in a few hours.

Share and Voice 3: Pass The Torch!!

Fellow Bloggers-

I received the Enviro-COOL blog award from Dr. V.@ Amy's Environmental Adventures a couple of weeks ago.  I have spent some quality time searching your blogs trying to find the best ones I could.

I would have to say that competition was stiff, but one blog blew the competition out of the water.  Therefore the Enviro-COOL blog award will be passed to...

(...drumroll....)

Kathy Choh @ Choh's Changing Environment for her post Share and Voice: If its Yellow keep it Mellow, If its Brown flush it Down!!!

I really enjoyed this post for 3 reasons:

• Kathy took her own pictures in a bathroom--of a toilet.  That is priceless. 
• This was an environmental advancement that was made RIGHT HERE AT UMD and a lot of us students didn't even know about it!! It was a great find...
• Dr. V. basically forced me to pass this award on.  Here's how the coercion took place today at the blogging party...

Sara: "I really need to pass on my blog award"

Dr. V.: "Yeah you do, you have been slacking"

Sara: "Well, every time I see a cool blog, someone beats me to the award, I was thinking about giving one to Kathy just because she's my friend."

approximately 2 minutes later....

Dr. V: "NOW THIS POST IS COOL!! (Referrring to Kathy's award-winning Share and Voice Post), SHE TOTALLY DESERVES AN AWARD FOR THIS ONE!!!!"

So here it is Kathy, an award just for you via Sara J, and Dr. V. ! Great job!!  Here are the instructions for you to pass it on to the next lucky blogger.  I hope Dr. V. doesn't peer pressure you the way she did me! =) 

1. Leave a comment below so that I know you "picked up" the award.
2. Create a Share and Voice post that says you've received the award and indicate who the award is from (be sure to hyperlink).
3. Also indicate to whom you are going to pass on the award and why. Be sure to hyperlink the blogger (use main blog URL) and the blog title (use the specific URL for that blog post).
4. Copy and paste these instructions at the bottom of your post.
5. Publish the post.
6. Visit each blogger you've awarded and leave a comment telling them they've won.
7. Continue the process...

Reflection: Weeks 3 & 4

The last couple of weeks have been really eye-opening for me. I have learned a lot about many environmental issues that we as human being have faced, are facing, and will face. Week 3 This week we were required to read 2 different articles, and have discussions about them in class. I enjoyed reading the first article, "The Challenges We Face". I thought this article was very eye opening, especially through all of the statistics and facts the author presented. It opened my eyes to the water problem, and led into a pretty intense conversation in the classroom. We got to the point where the question was asked, "based on our over-population of our planet, at what point as health-related professionals, do we let people die?". I think this question left the class puzzled. There were 2 main points that I took from this article:

• Our water supply is running out, rapidly.  I need to do my part to conserve it.
• Alternative energy isn't just a political issue, its something that needs to be taken care of immediately, and not just talked about.

The second article, "Seeing Green: Knowing and Saving the Environment on Film", wasn't as enjoyable for me to read. I didn't really like the way the article was written, I found it hard to follow. Overall it did open my eyes to our enviornment and how it is portrayed on film. There were also 2 main points that I took from this article:

• When environmental documentaries are being filmed, beautiful, untouched land gets the mark of the film crew.  Let's hope they don't leave too much behind...
• Environmental documentaries aren't the best way to learn about the environment.  A lot of information is left out, a lot of details are cut out, and landscape photoshopped over.
  
  
  

Week 4

This entire week we watched the movie, "An Inconvenient Truth", which I really enjoyed.  A lot of people dislike this movie, in fact everyone I had talked to outside of this Environmental Class said that it was a horrible movie.  Maybe they were just not fans of Gore, and turned it into a political issue, but I feel like it was very eye opening and a great movie to watch.  

It made me realize that the carbon emissions we carelessly pollute our environment are making HUGE changes to our planet.  It was crazy to learn about all the heat waves and the way little changes were made, to watch the water sources shrink over time, to watch ice caps melt before our eyes.  I think that this movie did a lot to motivate me to change.  I guess there are ways to get through to people, and I commend Gore for continuing to do his best to educate and change.  

This week we also did an eye opener activity online.  It was to measure the footprint we are making on this earth.  Although it was sort of discouraging to see how environmentally unfriendly I am, it was encouraging to get personalized tips as to exactly what Sara J. can do to make a difference.  

These last couple of weeks have been good for me.  I think that I am slowly coming to terms with how bad of a human I am being to this planet, and what I can do to not only change my behaviors, but to educate others on how to change theirs. 

Leaf Some Love!!  --Sara J.

Eye Opener 1: My Ecological Footprint

What is an Ecological Footprint?
An ecological footprint is a way to calculate the impact you are making on the earth by measuring how much of the earth's resources your lifestyle uses. Although not all sources are consistent in their ways of measurement, more and more organizations are getting together to create a better way to measure your "footprint". Eventually, all of the measurements will be the same, and the instruments used to calculate your ecological footprint will be consistent--resulting in accurate number. I like to think of it as taking your blood pressure or heart rate, your individual factors may vary affecting the end result, but the measurement and measurement instruments are all the same. To learn more about an ecological footprint and the history of it, visit Wikipedia or Redefining Progress.

Upon visiting the EcoBusiness Links Environmental Directory website, I used three tools to calculate my ecological footprint. I will summarize my findings and reactions to each tool.

Travel Calculator

I chose to do the travel calculator first for one main reason: I TRAVEL ALL OF THE TIME. If I am not flying out to Colorado to see my boyfriend, I am driving 3 hours home and 3 hours back to visit my family on the weekend. This has three different calculators to choose from: the first calculates your pollutant emissions from your journeys, the second calculates the energy you use on your journeys (in calories), and the third is the full annual cost of car ownership.

I chose to measure my pollutant emissions using the first tool. After taking the survey I had a hard time understanding exactly what the scores meant. My personal score was a very detailed list of how many nitrogen oxide, particulates, and carbon dioxide pollutants I emit into the air each week. At the end of the survey, the computer generated score also includes a number of tips you can follow to lower your air pollutants while traveling. I thought the tip tool was the most helpful part of the calculator, especially since majority of people do not understand the acceptable range for pollutant numbers.
Some of the things I could do to lessen my pollution with my traveling would be to carpool to work and social events, to take a form of public transportation home on the weekends, and to fly out of the Duluth airport when I go to CO versus driving 200 miles in my car to get to MSP.

Visit the Travel Calculator link to find your own scores!

EarthDay Footprint Quiz

This quiz helps you to calculate how many planets it would take to support your lifestyle. It mainly focuses on your food, shelter, mobility, goods, and services.
My results were pretty alarming. It would take 4.7 earths to provide enough resources, and 20.7 global acres of the Earth's productive land to support my lifestyle! I couldn't believe that my number was so high. At the end of this quiz, there were also tips you could read to help reduce your ecological footprint.
What I appreciated most about this quiz was how interactive it was. I feel like it gave an incredibly good representation of the environment before me, and then afterwards. As I went through the quiz, an apartment complex added, a gar, pollution, recycling bins...it was really motivational to watch as the pure empty environment became cluttered with my lifestyle objects.
After taking this quiz I have learned a few things. First of all, I tend to have very eco-friendly eating habits. I think that has a lot to do with me not eating any meat (however, I do eat poultry and dairy). I also learned that I fly way too much. At this point I can't really help that because lets be honest, a 2 hour plane ride or a 13 hour drive. There is only so much time in a weekend...
Some things I would like to change would be the amount that I recycle and the amount that I buy home-grown foods. Almost all of my foods are processed, and I never recycle. The most I recycle is using old worksheets and assignments as scratch paper. I can definitely work on both of those.

Carbon Calculator
The final quiz I took calculated how much CO2 pollution I cause by taking flights. According to the CarbonNeutral Company airplanes are one of the fastest growing sources of global warming gases. The good news is that there are ways to make my traveling on airplanes a little "greener". Although there is no way to take a specific "green" airplane, I was able to calculate exactly how much carbon is emitted into the atmosphere each time I fly. Then, after getting my results, the website provided a few service projects that would neutralize my flight. The service projects that were equal to one round trip flight to Colorado were centered around reducing carbon emissions from my other daily life activities. Such things include using a greener form of energy, and recycling certain amounts.
I didn't think this quiz was very helpful. I don't think that by reducing your carbon emission in other areas of your life neutralizes the carbon emissions you emit into the atmosphere by flying frequently. Overall, the quiz did give me some good lifestyle changes to consider making, and has helped me to gain knowledge on the effects of my traveling on the environment.

My Opened Eyes
Obviously my lifestyle is making a huge impact on the environment. Through this exercise I have learned that I can be just as beneficial to the environment as I am detrimental. With all of the little things that I do each day, I can lessen my ecological footprint. I am intrigued by all of the suggestions the quiz/calculator websites provided, however I think I am only seriously considering changing a few things. After this activity, I would mostly like to work on the amount of food I buy locally, buying more fresh and less processed, recycling more often, and using public transportation instead of my own vehicle more often.

Share and Voice 2: YOUTUBING!!

In my spare time I like to go to YouTube to find random videos.  I was searching for a video of a film crew filming a "remote" area of the world.  I thought that would jazz up my reading review. Anyways, moral of the story is I couldn't find a video of a film crew filming (??? confusing... ???) but I ran across this video. It made me laugh, I hope you enjoy it too!! 

CLICK HERE FOR A RIP ROARIN' ENVIRONMENTAL GOOD TIME!!!!

Review of Reading 27: Seeing Green: Knowing and Saving the Environment on Film

Summary of the Reading 

(Image borrowed from Nalaka Gunawardene, please click on the here to visit his blog)

This essay was written by Luis A. Vivance, an American Anthropologist who has very high expectations for the “environmental film industry” that currently, are not being met.  Throughout the essay he discussed several films, and how they are not only failing to be doing “good” they claim to be doing, but are actually causing harm.             

      Vivance’s view of the appropriate environmental film would be one that includes indigenous views of the environment, with our typical Western views.  Much like health education, the films should exhibit nonmalficence and beneficence when filming and researching a particular environment.  The films should be free of our American societal norms such as conservative sexual relationships, and an emergence in social orders.  According to Vivance, “a film should be a carefully crafted win-win vision of conservation and sustainable development” (McKinney 113).  It becomes our job to consider what we are watching, and how real the “documentary” actually is.   Does the filming of the documentary harm the natives of that land?  What is the environmental dilemma being portrayed, and who is that dilemma most directly affecting?  Are plants, animals, and entire ecosystems being harmed, and if they aren’t harmed, are we getting an accurate view of that plant/animal/ecosystem’s life?  Are the “remote” places that are being filmed remote because the camera crew did a good job of excluding roads, villages and civilization?  The author of this essay indirectly asked so many questions for the reader to consider, I have only named a few.

          As the essay progressed from film to film, the author acknowledged what each film was doing right and what each was doing wrong.  In the conclusion he stated, “we have more to gain by scrutinizing the vehicles of representation, and not just supporting a film-makers artistic and commercial impulses” (McKinney 113).  Environmental films shouldn’t be earnest political documents.  They need to become more realistic, and less harmful to the environment they are “trying to save”.  

Concepts that Challenged My Thinking

I had never in my life watched a documentary on National Geographic, or Animal Planet and thought that was I was viewing was an “earnest political document”.   After reading this article, I have changed my mind.  I feel like Vivance brought up some very good points.  He is correct; nature shouldn’t be censored, dumbed down, or changed to make it more marketable. 

A remote place that is not actually remote?  I had never considered that before.  If I look at any reality TV show or documentary, what happens is the camera-crew and the film editors do everything they can to make the environment (whether it be a social scene at a club, or a forest in Malaysia) exactly the way they want it.  People who dwell in that environment on a regular basis are never shown, conversations between humans, and interactions between animals are all too often edited out, or changed to be more appealing.  I think each time I watch a documentary from here on out I will question, what is being cut out, edited, or dubbed-over with stock sounds and images?

What can I do to save the environment?   Who is telling me that is what needs to be done?  As this essay presented, popular mass-media messages aren’t necessarily the best way to get information regarding the environment.  They show messages that will appeal to the audience, and will bring in revenue.  I have realized it is my job to do some researching to find out what organizations deserve my attention, which ones are just media scams? What can I do on a daily basis that goes beyond what media tells me to do?

There was a paragraph in the essay that stated “Plotkin urges us to consider the empirical rigor of shamanistic biochemistry (they’re better chemists than us in certain instances), and argues that Western medicine’s materialistic bias and search for magic bullets prevents a holistic understanding of disease etiology and the subtle and comprehensive understanding of nature among indigenous healers” (McKinney 112).   This paragraph blew my mind.  I had never considered the “doctors” around the world, and the fact that they may have a better understanding of the human body than we do; yet they aren’t ever allowed to be portrayed in a documentary about their environment?  The ability of indigenous healers to take from the land and heal their fellow village/tribe members is phenomenal; that could possibly be one of the most important human-environment interactions I have ever heard of.

New Terms

ethnography: a branch of anthropology dealing with the scientific description of individual cultures.

anthropomorphism: an anthropomorphic conception or representation, as of a deity.

mundanity: the condition or quality of being mundane; mundaneness (Click on link to define mundane)

gemeinschaft: a society or group characterized chiefly by a strong sense of common identity, close personal relationships, and an attachment to traditional and sentimental concerns.

herbarium: a collection of dried plants systematically arranged.

ethnobotany: the systematic study of such lore and customs

ecotourism: tourism to places having unspoiled natural resources, with minimal impact on the environment being a primary concern.

Links For You To Visit

I have included in the Paragraphs above a few links for you to visit.  Here are a some others I found:

1. This is an article about indigenous healing, I found it to be very interesting. Indigenous Healing

2. To learn more about the Penan Indians and the logging situation in the Borneo rain forest visit this link.

3. For more information on any of the films the author presented in the text, visit the Internal Movie Dababase website, and type in the name of the film you would like more information on in the search bar.